


A Little Bit of Tender

by aguamala



Series: I'll Be Your West Coast, Honey [17]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Arcades, Don't copy to another site, Multi, Picnics, Shopping, just some gays out on the town
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29311986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aguamala/pseuds/aguamala
Summary: Seungmin and Jeongin, sitting a solid five feet apart, both startle abruptly as Hyunjin flings the bedroom door open.Or, Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jeongin have a day out together.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Kim Seungmin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, OT8 - Relationship
Series: I'll Be Your West Coast, Honey [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1475081
Comments: 10
Kudos: 105
Collections: A Light In The Hallway 'Verse





	A Little Bit of Tender

Seungmin and Jeongin, sitting a solid five feet apart, both startle abruptly as Hyunjin flings the bedroom door open. 

“I haven’t spent time with either of you in  _ forever,” _ he announces, flopping dramatically onto the bed between them. Seungmin shares a look with Jeongin over Hyunjin’s head. “And hanging out here doesn’t count. I want to go out with you both.” 

“Today?” Jeongin asks. 

“No, not today.” Seungmin feels his jaw unclench. He and Jeongin are having a designated Don’t Touch Me day, so going out with Hyunjin wouldn’t be good for any of them. “We’ve all got Sunday off so we should go out then. We can each pick an activity and spend the day together!” 

“It would be nice to get out of the dorms for a while,” Jeongin muses. Seungmin hums in agreement. 

“Great! Think about what you want to do and we’ll plan it out on Saturday.” 

Hyunjin stands, blowing them both kisses and flouncing back out the door. 

“He’s getting better,” Seungmin comments. Hyunjin used to consistently ask, even on bad days, whether he could give a kiss or pat a head, but after Jeongin approached him about it he started working on breaking that habit. 

“He is,” Jeongin agrees. 

The week seems to fly by with the promise of a day out rapidly approaching. Seungmin thinks of some ideas offhand between schedules and before bed, shifting between the beach – too cold? – a concert or performance – too formal? – and a romantic dinner – too cliché? – before eventually settling on a picnic. Sitting by the Han river and eating, just getting some time outside to chat with his boyfriends sounds wonderful every time he thinks about it. 

Spring is finally creeping in, and when Seungmin checked the weather app it looks like the sun will be out and the wind will be calm. Minho helps him pack food, simple things like sandwiches and cut fruit and the cupcakes he asked Felix to help him bake. To be honest, Felix did all of the actual baking, but Seungmin helped ice them so it’s a collaboration. 

He dresses sensibly in a sweatshirt and jeans, packing a light jacket in his bag as well in case it’s chillier by the river. The picnic food is all tucked neatly in a cooler by the front door. 

“Ready?” Jeongin asks as Seungmin leaves his room. He’s sprawled out on the couch, bag on the ground by his side and phone on his chest. 

“Yeah,” Seungmin says. “Where’s Hyunjin?” 

“Still in the bathroom.” Jeongin snorts. “Prettying himself up for us, I presume.” 

Seungmin huffs a laugh as well, moving Jeongin’s legs to sit on the couch, placing them back on his lap once he’s settled. 

“Arcade first, yeah?” Jeongin nods. 

“We’ve all eaten breakfast and it doesn’t make sense to carry purchases around all day, so yeah.” 

Seungmin hums, taking out his own phone. It’s a flip of the coin at this point, whether Hyunjin will be done in thirty seconds or another fifteen minutes. 

Luckily, he emerges in something close to the former, fluffing his hair and smacking his lips together. 

“Let’s go!” 

“You’d think he’s the one who’s been waiting for us,” Jeongin mutters to Seungmin as Hyunjin attempts to herd them out the door. 

Shortly, Hyunjin gets his way and they’re off, Jeongin dutifully dragging the wheeled cooler behind them. 

The arcade isn’t far, just a bus ride and a couple more blocks. Jeongin leads the way confidently; he’s visited the arcade with school friends a couple times. 

Despite both Seungmin and Hyunjin’s protests, Jeongin insists on paying for all of their ticket cards. They set the cooler and their bags at a table in the corner, and because the arcade is fairly empty they’re comfortable just leaving everything there and heading off. 

Hyunjin immediately drapes himself over Jeongin’s shoulders, trying to drag him to the DDR machine. Jeongin sends a panicked look and mouths  _ help me _ to Seungmin, who just laughs and follows them. 

Hyunjin pulls Jeongin up onto the pad next to him, an unending stream of pleads still exiting his mouth. 

“Fine, fine, I’ll do it,” Jeongin finally concedes. “Just one round, though, I don’t want to be sweaty all day.” 

Seungmin can’t help his smile as Hyunjin perks up, excitedly choosing a song. Seungmin meanders off for a bit while they dance, taking a quick lap around the arcade to scout out some of the other games. When he finishes his loop, Jeongin is once again fighting his way out of Hyunjin’s arms. 

“Hyung, help.” He already sounds resigned, but Seungmin takes pity on him this time and extracts Jeongin from Hyunjin’s octopus hold. 

“Hold me, Jinnie, and leave Innie alone.” 

“But he’s so cute,” Hyunjin pouts. Seungmin gives Jeongin a  _ you owe me _ look before opening his mouth again. 

“Are you saying I’m not cute enough?” he asks, pouting at Hyunjin, who immediately shifts, sliding long arms around Seungmin’s waist. 

“No, no not at all! You’re  _ so _ cute, bunny,” he assures quickly. 

“Bunny, Hyunjin-hyung, let’s go look at other games.” 

“That’s bunny-hyung to you, brat,” Seungmin growls playfully, making Jeongin dart quickly out of arm’s reach. 

Hyunjin stays connected to Seungmin as they wander around, commenting on the games they pass. 

“Ooh, skee ball!” Seungmin says. “Innie, you wanna play me?” 

Jeongin grins. 

“Oh, you’re on.” 

They both swipe their cards and watch the balls roll down. Hyunjin moves off to the side, already cheering quietly for both of them. 

They’re both terrible, mostly because arcade games are objectively rigged, but it’s fun to throw the skee balls and laugh at each other’s misses. Hyunjin yells happily every time either of them get any points, and at the end they have a dismally small pile of tokens hanging out of the machines. 

Seungmin, upon counting his up, finds that Jeongin earned just slightly more. He manages to worm his way out of the inevitable teasing with a pout. 

“Let’s play the racing game,” Hyunjin offers. “I think they have three of those next to each other so we can all go at the same time.” 

“Ooh,” Jeongin says, “let’s do that.” 

Hyunjin grabs one of each of their hands and pulls them eagerly along. He settles into the middle ride, letting Seungmin and Jeongin take the seats on either side. 

Hyunjin encourages them to play several rounds, running laps on different courses and heckling each other the whole time. Seungmin consistently wins – a perk of Felix dragging him into Mario Kart games several times a week – leaving Hyunjin and Jeongin to fight over second and third. 

When Jeongin finally gets bored and wanders off, heading towards the games of chance, Seungmin and Hyunjin follow. Hyunjin drapes himself around Seungmin’s torso again and rests his chin on Seungmin’s shoulder as they watch. They cheer for Jeongin as he tries most of the games, and continue cheering even as he fails the vast majority of those. 

He does, however, after five or so attempts, manage to win a small cartoonish husky plush in the claw game and immediately presents it to Seungmin. 

“For you, hyung,” he offers sheepishly. Hyunjin coos as Seungmin blushes. 

“Babies,” Hyunjin announces, bonking his head gently against both of theirs. 

Hyunjin gets a turn to blush when they head back to the desk and Jeongin turns in their tickets for prizes. He gets a bag with a concerning number of bouncy balls – Seungmin doesn’t even want to think about what his plans for that might be – but the second thing he asks for is a little bat plush with tiny sparkly fangs. He hands it to Hyunjin very nonchalantly and turns back to the person behind the counter quickly to stifle any reaction. 

Instead, Hyunjin turns to Seungmin, holding the bat up and squeaking nonsensically. Seungmin just smiles and wraps an arm around his waist. 

“Who’s the baby now, huh?” Seungmin asks. 

“Still you.” Hyunjin ducks down and gnaws on Seungmin’s shoulder playfully. 

Jeongin turns around, grinning, and stuffs two plastic bags into his sweatshirt pocket. 

“Alright,” he says. “Who’s ready for a picnic?” 

“Me!” Hyunjin yells. Seungmin shushes him but it’s hard through his laughter. 

The walk to the river is chaotic as always. 

Hyunjin takes the cooler this time, letting Seungmin and Jeongin chase each other around like overgrown pups. There aren’t too many people out, which is a bit surprising for a weekend, but Seungmin figures it’s just chilly enough to dissuade the majority from taking a stroll. 

The grassy knoll that overlooks the river is blissfully unoccupied, and Hyunjin wastes no time pulling out the blanket as Seungmin finally tires Jeongin out and captures him, sending them both rolling. 

“Hyung,” Jeongin yells. “Save me!” 

Hyunjin pauses unloading the food, looking up just in time to see Seungmin plant a big kiss on Jeongin’s cheek. 

“Bunny,” he calls. “Leave him be. We can eat first, then you can give him all the love he deserves.” 

Seungmin pouts but does pull away – though not without ruffling Jeongin’s hair – and ascends the small hill to help Hyunjin organize the food. He packed with preferences in mind, so while there’s some fruit and desserts that are free-for-all, the sandwiches and drinks are labeled. 

Jeongin settles in at one corner of the blanket and Seungmin and Hyunjin follow suit. Seungmin’s stomach growls as he opens his food, so he doesn’t hesitate to dig in. 

“Thank you for the food, Seungmin-hyung,” Jeongin says after a couple bites. 

“Minho-hyung helped, and Lixie helped with the desserts.” 

Hyunjin makes an offronted noise and hits his leg a couple times to stall the conversation while he finishes chewing his bite. 

“You still had the idea, Seungie. And you helped with putting everything together.” 

Seungmin just smiles and takes another bite. 

Jeongin pops a container of strawberries open, only for Hyunjin to slip it out of his hand. 

“Hyung–” he protests. Hyunjin takes a strawberry and holds it out for him to bite. Jeongin blushes, but leans forward and eats it anyway. Hyunjin holds a big one out for Seungmin next, who takes a tiny nibble off the end. 

“Bunny,” Jeongin teases, “taking little bunny bites.” 

Seungmin makes eye contact with him and bites the entire strawberry out of Hyunjin’s hand. Jeongin bursts into laughter. 

“Bunny,” Hyunjin coos, petting Seungmin’s head. Seungmin narrows his eyes and opens his mouth, still full of strawberry. Hyunjin recoils, going as far as falling over backwards in his reaction. Both Seungmin and Jeongin laugh, even as Hyunjin sits back up, pouting. 

“You’re both mean to me,” he whines. Seungmin raises an eyebrow. 

“You were mean first,” he counters. 

They dissolve into a very childish three-way “am not” “are too” argument that ends when Seungmin puts strawberries in both Jeongin and Hyunjin’s mouths while they’re talking. 

“Ooh! We should take some pictures!” Hyunjin practically bounces as he speaks. Jeongin nods, letting Hyunjin pull him upright. They both extend a hand to Seungmin, who grabs both of them. The resulting pull and crash almost knocks them all back to the ground. 

Seungmin didn’t think to bring his good camera, but their phones will work well enough and it’ll be quicker to get things onto instagram like this anyway. He lets Hyunjin take the lead at first, tugging them over to the trees and grabbing Jeongin to pose with him. 

“Will you take pictures, bunny?” 

Seungmin shoots him a half-hearted glare for the name but pulls out his phone anyway. He gives very little direction, but he’s photographed for both of them enough that he doesn’t need to give much. 

He heckles occasionally when either of them makes an unattractive face or when he catches them mid-movement. A comment about Jeongin winking earns him a quick chase around the patch of trees. 

Hyunjin loops an arm around Seungmin’s waist as he comes back around, pulling him in close. 

“Play nice, bunny,” he scolds, but the effect is immediately ruined when he kisses Seungmin’s nose. Seungmin buries his face in Hyunjin’s shoulder for a moment, steadying his breath. 

“Cute,” Jeongin comments. When Seungmin lifts his head he finds Jeongin’s phone pointed at them. Seungmin sticks his tongue out. 

Once Hyunjin deems their photoshoot done, they meander back up to the blanket. Seungmin pulls the small box of cupcakes out of the cooler and opens it. 

“Ah-” Seungmin stops Jeongin from grabbing one. “Napkins first.” 

Jeongin pouts but takes the napkin before eagerly scooping up a cupcake. Hyunjin bumps Seungmin’s shoulder in thanks, receiving his own napkin before taking a pastry. Seungmin picks up the remaining one, watching the other two take their first bites before taking his own. 

The cake is delicious, as expected of their resident baker. 

“Mm, this is amazing,” Hyunjin says, mouth full of cupcake. “Very good job on the icing, little one.” 

Jeongin hums in agreement. Seungmin voices his thanks between bites, and no other conversation is made until they finish. 

“So do we want to hang around here for anything else, or are we moving on to Hyunjinnie’s activity?” 

Hyunjin and Jeongin share a glance before shrugging and agreeing to move on. 

They all help to pack up, putting the containers back into the cooler and shaking off and folding the blanket. 

“Let’s go?” 

“Let’s go.” 

They take a quick detour back to the dorms, dropping off the food remnants and heading to the train station. 

It’s a short ride but Hyunjin lends his shoulder to Seungmin, giving him somewhere to bury his face and block out the smells. Many werewolves avoid cities in general, preferring the suburbs or rural areas where people are more sparse and smells are more controllable. Seungmin’s pack is one of a rare few who raise pups in the city; he’s not new to the smells and discomforts of public transportation but that doesn’t mean he likes it. 

“You did really well, hyung,” Jeongin assures him as they leave. Seungmin definitely doesn’t need the validation, but he can’t say it hurts either. 

“Shopping time!” Hyunjin announces, taking their hands and tugging them towards the nearest store. Seungmin and Jeongin share fondly exasperated smiles behind his back. 

Shopping with Hyunjin is an adventure. He enjoys trying on the most outlandish clothing he can find – it annoys both Seungmin and Jeongin to no end that he manages to look good in the vast majority of it – and likes convincing whoever he’s with to try on ridiculous clothes as well. 

They split up a bit upon entering the store, though they stay mostly within view of each other. It’s easier that way to let everyone peruse at their own pace, but keeping in view lets them ask for opinions or show off silly pieces without having to hunt anyone down. 

“What do you think?” Jeongin asks, holding up a baby blue button-down. Hyunjin reaches over, feeling the fabric. 

“I think that’ll lay really nicely on you, Innie. It’s a good color, too.” Jeongin smiles and drapes it over his arm. 

“I’ll try it on.” 

Seungmin isn’t planning on buying anything today, especially since he and Minho bought new clothes online together just a few days ago. He doesn’t grab many things but doesn’t say no, either, as Hyunjin passes him items for him to try. 

Hyunjin ends up with his arms full first and drifts behind Jeongin for a while, narrating what he thinks Jeongin should try on and occasionally calling Seungmin over to look at entertaining pieces. 

“Bunny, come look at this,” he calls. Seungmin turns to see Jeongin looking mildly disgusted and Hyunjin holding up a borderline horrific cactus-print … shirt? 

“What  _ is _ that?” Seungmin asks. 

“I have no idea,” Hyunjin says proudly, “but I’m gonna try it on.” 

Jeongin rolls his eyes behind Hyunjin’s back and Seungmin has to stifle his laugh. 

“You do you, baby,” he says, turning back around. “You do you.” 

Hyunjin lets out an offronted noise but he’s quickly stifled by Jeongin doing something. Seungmin doesn’t turn around; he’s focused on finding a sales associate so they can get a changing room. 

He’s able to get them a room large enough for all three to share, though it’s not like they haven’t changed together in close quarters before. Hyunjin in particular likes to take selfies while trying clothes on and both Seungmin and Jeongin try to stay out of the shot, which is needless to say much easier in a larger room. 

Hyunjin eagerly piles his to-be-tried clothes onto one of the racks, leaving Seungmin and Jeongin to place their – significantly less substantial – collections on the same rack. 

Jeongin starts with the blue button-down as Hyunjin tries on some sort of retro sweater and Seungmin swaps his sweatshirt for a cropped black sweater. 

Seungmin startles as warm hands wrap around his waist. 

“You’re so small,” Hyunjin says, almost reverently. “Why don’t you wear cropped shirts more?” 

Seungmin squirms a little in his grip, resisting the urge to pull the sweater down. 

“I don’t know,” he says finally. “I just feel self-conscious. It’s not really my style.” 

“Dandy boy,” Jeongin jokes. “Too much of a goody-two-shoes to show any skin.” 

Hyunjin laughs and Seungmin purses his lips. 

“It’s not that. I just feel better with my whole torso covered.” Jeongin grins. 

“What about a high-waisted skirt with it, then? That’d cover your torso.” Seungmin flushes and bats both of them away. 

“I’m not Ji. I can’t pull that off.” 

Hyunjin hums, clearly not buying it, but drops the subject anyway. He moves to stand in front of the mirror, shifting this way and that to find the best angle. 

“What do you guys think?” he asks. 

“It’s ugly but you make it look good,” Jeongin says without hesitation. Seungmin nods. 

“Yeah, that’s about right.” 

Hyunjin frowns. Seungmin is already pulling the sweater off and grabbing a floral button-down that Hyunjin must’ve handed him at some point by the time Jeongin gets his turn in front of the mirror. 

“That’s a very good color on you, Innie,” Seungmin comments. Hyunjin agrees, and continues fawning over Jeongin while Seungmin focuses on buttoning up. Jeongin wrestles his way out of Hyunjin’s grip in time for Seungmin to shift to the mirror. 

“Hyunjinnie, you should work on changing into your next thing while Jeongin and I are using the mirror.” 

Hyunjin pouts aggressively, but grabs the next monstrosity from his rack anyway. Seungmin twists his mouth as he looks at himself in the mirror. It’s not a bad shirt and he likes how he looks in it, but he can’t think of a single occasion he’d actually wear it for. 

The next article of clothing in his pile is a mystery. Seungmin holds it up and examines it for several moments before he realizes where the head and arm holes are. He slips it on, but finds he can’t zip it himself. 

“Innie?” he asks, because Hyunjin’s at the mirror. “Could you give me a hand with this?” 

“No,” Jeongin says, but he crosses the small room anyway. Seungmin shivers when Jeongin’s fingertips brush his back, but then the shirt is zipped and he’s left staring down at himself in confusion and mild distress. 

“I’m not sure how to feel about this,” Seungmin says, shifting to look in the mirror. 

“I know how to feel,” Jeongin offers. “Bad.” 

“Be nice, Innie,” Hyunjin chides, but all it gets him is a tongue sticking out. 

They end up spending far too long in the changing room and buying far too little, but none of them mind. It’s not like any of them brought a shopping list. 

The rest of the afternoon is spent wandering through the shopping district, mostly trying on hats and admiring jewelry. Hyunjin holds each of their hands, often both at the same time, but he also wanders off like a crow lured by shiny bait. Jeongin pretends to be unaffected by it all but when Seungmin watches from the corner of his eye, he sees Jeongin noting the items he and Hyunjin lingered at but didn’t buy. 

Hyunjin drapes himself over both of their shoulders, his singular shopping bag smacking Jeongin’s back. He completely ignores Jeongin’s affronted squeak. 

“When we get back home, let’s watch a movie together. Or beat Felix at some video games.” 

“Good luck,” Jeongin snorts. “Felix could beat both of us blindfolded with his hands behind his back. Seungminnie’s the only one who stands a chance.” 

“That’s just ‘cause he makes me play with him all the time,” Seungmin protests. “I’m not that good, I’m just good against him. He wins most of the time anyway.” 

“I think we can beat him at Mario Kart.” Hyunjin sounds so sure of himself. Seungmin and Jeongin just smile at each other. 

“You’re welcome to try, love,” Seungmin says. 

“I will! If I beat him can I have kisses?” 

Jeongin laughs out loud. 

“You don’t have to earn kisses, hyung, but if you can beat Felix then yeah, you can have all the kisses you want.” 

“Good.” Hyunjin grins. “Let’s go home.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!!  
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